MISSION STATEMENT

Revised Fall 2009

Touro College is an independent institution of higher education under Jewish auspices, established to perpetuate and enrich the Jewish heritage and to support Jewish continuity, as well as to serve the general community in keeping with the historic Jewish commitment to the transmission of knowledge, social justice, and compassionate concern for, and service to, society. As an integral component of this commitment, Touro fosters access for diverse elements of the urban community to educational and professional opportunities in a variety of fields.

The Jewish heritage embraces two fundamental components, the particular and the universal, as reflected in Hillel's dictum, transmitted in Ethics of the Fathers, "If we are not for ourselves, who will be? If we are concerned only with ourselves, what are we?" This seminal teaching shapes the core values of the college, which include a dynamic commitment to quality education regardless of socioeconomic status, the treatment of all students, faculty and staff with integrity and respect, the role of ethics in the professions, and the building of a responsive and responsible society through expanded academic opportunities. Touro is a learner-centered college where personal growth and intellectual inquiry are fostered and where men and women are prepared for productive lives of dignity, value and values.

Touro offers undergraduate and graduate programs in Jewish studies and liberal arts and sciences, serving the diverse components of the Jewish community. In consonance with the universal aspect of its mission, the college provides neighborhood-based programs for underserved members of the community, and offers professional and graduate programs in such areas as education, law, medicine, pharmacy, the allied health sciences, social work, and business, as well as mission-driven programs at campuses abroad.